The Witcher was a big hit for Netflix when Season 1 hit the streamer back in December, and even though some viewers were put off by the multiple timelines, many stuck with the series and developed a true affinity for the fantasy, world-building and intriguing characters. So much so, that an anime spinoff movie was quickly put into development. Well, now there's also set to be a live-action spinoff from the Henry Cavill-led drama, The Witcher: Blood Origin, and we know what it's going to be about.
The Witcher: Blood Origin is being set up at Netflix as a six part limited series, and will cover a period of time that fans of the parent show still have plenty of questions about: the conjunction of the spheres. According to the official logline for the new show, Blood Origin will show audiences "a story lost to time" and be set 1200 years before the events of The Witcher, in a world of elves. Fans will get to see the origin of the very first Witcher, and everything which led to the conjunction and caused the worlds of monsters, men and elves to mingle and become one.
The Witcher: Blood Origin will be shepherded by The Witcher's Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who will act as executive producer, while the author of novel series on which the show is based, Andrzej Sapkowski, will serve as the creative consultant for Blood Origin. Declan de Barra is set to act as showrunner and also executive produce, while Tomek Baginski, Jarek Sawko, Jason Brown, and Sean Daniel will executive produce, as well. Here's what Declan de Barra had to saw about the show:
As a lifelong fan of fantasy, I am beyond excited to tell the story The Witcher: Blood Origin. A question has been burning in my mind ever since I first read The Witcher books - What was the Elven world really like before the cataclysmic arrival of the humans? I've always been fascinated by the rise and fall of civilizations, how science, discovery, and culture flourish right before that fall. How vast swathes of knowledge are lost forever in such a short time, often compounded by colonization and a rewriting of history. Leaving only fragments of a civilization’s true story behind. The Witcher: Blood Origin will tell the tale of the Elven civilization before its fall, and most importantly reveal the forgotten history of the very first Witcher.
Oooh. Didn't you kinda get chills reading all that? Two of the things which are left very mysterious in The Witcher (even once you realize that Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer are being shown in different timelines from each other for most of the show) is what exactly happened to cause the conjunction of the spheres and how this world ended up with Witchers. The show already had a lot of world building and character set up to do aside from that lore, so it makes sense that it didn't spend too much time trying to unpack all of that ancient history.
Plus, now that we know exactly what The Witcher: Blood Origin will be about, it's especially clear that the true history of the conjunction and how Witchers came about isn't known to most of those we met in the original series. It sounds like a separate, limited series could be just the thing we need to get all of the important background on how the Continent ended up as it did.
The Witcher: Blood Origin will shoot in the U.K., but besides that, we have no information on when filming might begin (though The Witcher should return to filming on Season 2 pretty soon) or when it might actually hit Netflix. But, seeing as how they already have a solid team set to work on the show, I wouldn't be surprised if we begin to at least hear some casting details by the end of the year, so be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest. In the meantime, see what you can watch in the coming weeks with our summer premiere guide and fall TV schedule!
